Lorenzo Pellegrini confirms staying at Roma ‘would make me very proud’ but admits ‘there are dynamics that don’t only depend on you.’

Pellegrini is a Roma youth product and returned to the Giallorossi in the summer of 2017 after a spell at Sassuolo, but the midfielder has since been linked with the likes of Inter and Manchester United and reportedly has a €36m release clause.

“I’m fine here, I feel at home,” he told Sky Sport Italia.

“Roma are one of the most important clubs in Italy, I’m not looking anywhere else. I’ve always said that staying here would make me very proud.

“I’d be honoured, but there are dynamics that don’t only depend on you.”

The 22-year-old was then asked about Saturday’s clash with the Nerazzurri, working under Claudio Ranieri, his own progress and Nicolo Zaniolo.

“I’m happy when a former teammate is happy or finds their form again,” he continued.

“I’m glad he’s doing better, but I hope he does worse on Saturday! We’re certainly more compact than before, it’s what we’ve been working on during the week.

“We have to stick together. We did the same with Di Francesco, although perhaps we lacked a bit of it towards the end of his tenure.

“We’re rediscovering it, plus it’s normal that with wins we’ve found serenity. It’s very important thing, that’s why Ranieri is very good.

“He’s given us the right level of serenity and happiness to get out and train. I’ll take some satisfaction out of this season, but it didn’t go the way I hoped.

“I couldn’t play consistently due to injuries. I paid for the fact that I had to stop when I was going strong.

“It’s been a season of transition and we hope to reach the Champions League, otherwise it would be a great regret of ours.

“I have a good relationship with Nicolo. I think that’s also important. When a player has fun off the field, they have double it on the field.

“On the field you have to be on the ball, but the older heads help us with that. To Nicolo I say never to be satisfied.

“We mustn’t limit ourselves. Instead we must have objectives that become steps to do more and more.